title: Differences by sex in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, impaired fasting glycaemia and impaired glucose tolerance in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess differences between men and women in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, impaired fasting glycaemia and impaired glucose tolerance in sub-Saharan Africa.
  
  
  METHODS
  In September 2011, the PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched for community-based, cross-sectional studies providing sex-specific prevalences of any of the three study conditions among adults living in parts of sub-Saharan Africa (i.e. in Eastern, Middle and Southern Africa according to the United Nations subregional classification for African countries). A random-effects model was then used to calculate and compare the odds of men and women having each condition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In a meta-analysis of the 36 relevant, cross-sectional data sets that were identified, impaired fasting glycaemia was found to be more common in men than in women (OR: 1.56; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.20-2.03), whereas impaired glucose tolerance was found to be less common in men than in women (OR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.72-0.98). The prevalence of diabetes mellitus - which was generally similar in both sexes (OR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.91-1.11) - was higher among the women in Southern Africa than among the men from the same subregion and lower among the women from Eastern and Middle Africa and from low-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa than among the corresponding men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with women in the same subregions, men in Eastern, Middle and Southern Africa were found to have a similar overall prevalence of diabetes mellitus but were more likely to have impaired fasting glycaemia and less likely to have impaired glucose tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Health Systems, Nagoya University School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan .
authors.forename: Esayas Haregot
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Hilawe
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yatsuya
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aoyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D000368:Aged; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005215:Fasting / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D038321:Glycemic Index; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult